


how great, how small

by seaofolives



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Falling In Love, Gen, M/M, POV Ignis Scientia, Pre-Relationship, Random & Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26424139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaofolives/pseuds/seaofolives
Summary: A little scare leads to a quick lesson about wildlife and attraction for Ignis Scientia.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	how great, how small

“Shit— _shit!_ ”

Without another beat wasted, Ignis twisted the wheel towards the right and parked up the car under the eaves of a tree. “What is it?” He turned back to the king who was beating his jacket and his shirt as if to exorcise it before he got onto the top of the car to draw his knees up. As for the large man beside him, he was finally stirring from his nap. 

“I, I dunno, itʼs got wings and legs!” Noctis squeaked. 

“An insect?!” Prompto got on his knees to search for it, then. There, on the black seat of the sophisticated Regalia, was a yellow dot right where the king once sat, barely moving but existent all the same. Prompto made a strange growling, shivering noise while he rubbed his fists on his exposed arms. “ _Eugh_ , is that a bee?! Did you get stung, Noct?” 

“Who got stung?” Finally, the Shield of the King was well and truly awake. 

“N, no…” Noctis searched his forearms. “At least I hope not!” 

“It probably fell on you during the hunt.” In situations like this, Ignis had to make a conscious effort to remain calm to avoid upsetting Noctis, if not calmer than his usual demeanor. If his charge said he wasnʼt beaten and if he was only panicking out of surprise, heʼll take his word for it. The best thing to do now, then, was to remove the cause—he would double-check Noctis after to verify his initial verdict. From the side pocket of his door, he brought out _Culless Munitions_ ʼ latest catalogue of weapons to roll it into a, well, weapon as was apt. “Iʼll take care of this. Gladio, donʼt move.” 

“Whut—” Gladio looked around the backseat. 

“Gladio!” Prompto might have screeched, pointing at the yellow spot which Ignis was aiming for now, on his knees, catalogue held high. “Itʼs a bee, you could get stung!” 

Heʼd just brought down his paper mace when Gladioʼs faster arm came up to stop it. It landed with an ineffective whap against his forearm. “Hey, calm down, donʼt kill it.” That deep voice, as reassuring as solid ground. 

“Is it dead?” Noctis still had his knees gathered to his chest when he leaned towards the offensive insect. 

“It ainʼt moving but it doesnʼt have to be dead.” Gladio opened his palm to Ignis. “Gimme that thing.” 

“Shouldnʼt you put a shirt on first?” Ignis tried to advise him. After all, of the four of them, he was the most vulnerable to be stung. 

“Itʼs fine, Ignis. By the way, I need you to open the boot.” Gladio flipped the catalogue to the first page and turning the cover up, slid its front under the little bug. 

“Very well.” Ignis opened the door. Noctis jumped off and hovered closely to him while he unlocked the back and flipped it open. “Noct, how did you find it?” 

“And while youʼre at it, get me a bottle of water and some sugar.” 

“I felt something crawling on my arm,” Noctis answered, taking the bottle from Ignis while he sealed their cooler and searched one of their thermal bags for the sugar. “Think it came from my jacket.” 

“Ah! Youʼre going to release it back in the wild?” Prompto piped up, both his and Gladioʼs doors swinging open. 

“Not before we feed it. Ignis, you ready?” 

“Would sugar packets from _Crowʼs Nest_ suffice?” Ignis gestured for Noctis to stand behind him. Having been raised with him and having somehow _raised him_ , he still remembered how such little crawlers affected the king. Besides, it would be dangerous to be clumsy and allow the last living member of House Caelum to be stung by a bee. 

“Thatʼs perfect.” Gladio came up to join them, then, setting down the magazine on top of the cooler which urged Ignis to step back to create some distance between his charge and the stinger. “Prompto, Noct, come here.” Then again, Gladio had always been quite vehement in bringing the king out of his comfort zone. “Ignis, you too.” And him, too, as it turned out. 

Before he let Noctis come close, Ignis touched him on his wrist and offered him a reassuring smile and a nod. That put him between the king and his Shield while Prompto huddled close to them, both curious and wary of their friendʼs actions. 

Gladio started by twisting the cap off the bottle and filling it partly with water. Then he took the paper packet from Ignis, shook it out of habit then ripped it open to pour some sugar into the water. 

“Pay attention,” he began his lecture as he slowly, carefully tilted the cap towards the bee parked on its stomach. It was a furry little thing, smaller than Ignisʼ thumbnail, striped yellow and black as many cartoon illustrations would have it. “This one hereʼs a bee.” 

Noctis groaned, “I know that.” His voice was touched by the impatience of being treated like a child who couldnʼt be trusted with learning things. 

Gladio smirked at him. “So dʼyou know theyʼre peaceful creatures that wonʼt sting ya?” 

“Huh?” 

Gladio grinned. Definitely the answer was no. After all, until recently, all of them had been living in the city, away from forests where an errant bee might get itself lost in their clothes. And Noctis, in particular, was more sheltered than any of them could be. “Bees arenʼt wasps so they wonʼt sting ya just like that. Youʼll have to hit ‘em first before they hit you back.” He drew his eyes back to his science experiment. “And this little guyʼs just hungry for some sugar.” 

“Hey, itʼs…” Prompto peeled himself from Ignisʼ protection, moving to Gladioʼs other side to gaze closely at the bee which had suddenly come alive from its docile state. “Itʼs drinking?!” A quiet gasp. 

Ignis couldnʼt keep his distance himself. He fixed his glasses and bent down to watch closely. The bee which once sat still was now crawling and climbing ever closer to the cap, a ripple in the water to mark where it was sucking it. A proof of life. 

“Noct,” Prompto called the king. 

Noctis departed his shoulders, then. When Ignis looked, he saw him pressed up to Promptoʼs, watching from his phone where the bee was probably blown several times its actual size. “Whoah,” he swooned, a hint of a smile teasing his lips upwards. “Thatʼs so cool.” 

“Now itʼs cool, huh?” Gladio chuckled, tipping the cap a little higher. “If a beeʼs got fur, itʼs safe. Thatʼs how I learned about it first. This guyʼs probably a bumblebee.” 

“Who… _bumbled_ into us?” Prompto tried for a joke. That made Ignis snort to himself, bringing his gloved hand to his smile. 

“Now youʼre getting it!” Gladio laughed. 

“So that sugar waterʼs its food,” Noctis observed. 

“Closest thing we can get to nectar.” To Ignisʼ surprise, those amber eyes went up to him as Gladio nodded towards him. “Kinda like Ebony to Ignis.” 

Ignis sighed with a quiet snort, cocking his brow at the beaming Gladio while Noctis and Prompto cackled between them. “I suppose I cannot contest that.” 

“Well, yʼainʼt exactly hiding it, either.” Gladio nodded to him again. “Come closer. I want ya to see this.” 

“I _am_ already close.” But Ignis moved, anyway. 

Bringing him within an inch to his friendʼs warmth, and the shape of his muscles, which caused his heart to jump. Heʼd always known for a fact that Gladio was an attractive man but standing suddenly so near him…

Ignis felt like this was the first time he was really, truly experiencing it all. His largeness, the honey glow of his eyes, that innocent smirk on his scarred face as he gazed upon…such a tiny creature living off his greatness. This gentle giant with a brutal strength that could end armies, caring for such a miniscule insect whose death would have been so inconsequential to them. 

Teaching them, even, of its place in their lives. “So why are you feeding it?” Noctis asked. 

“‘cause this guyʼs still got places to go like us,” Gladio answered. “Itʼs a wild pollinator, and itʼs important not just to flowers but to the whole country. So if you think about it, this guyʼs as much a Lucian as we all are.” Another lesson to the king. 

Ignis caught Noctis smiling softly. “Yeah. Guess it is…” Was there ever a time where Ignis felt his heart so full? 

Prompto cried out suddenly, twisting his phone to the air. When Ignis thought it was another platoon of MTs, he would add, “Itʼs off!” And just like that, the bumblebee was back to its wings. All because someone decided it was precious enough to save. 

“Yup,” Gladio chuckled, putting out a deep grunt as he pulled back his shoulders. “Got things to do like us, too. Better get going, then.” 

“Okay!” Prompto slipped his phone to his pocket and waved to the air. “Bye, little guy! Keep on pollinating, ‘kay?” 

“Yeah,” Noctis said to the same air, hand on his side. “In the meantime, weʼll take this country back for us. For all of us.” 

Ignis waited until both of them had returned to the car before he approached Gladio guzzling down the bottle of water and sticking it into the half-melted ice inside their cooler. “Gladio,” he beckoned to him. 

“Hm?” That handsome smile turned to him over his thick shoulder. Ignis wondered how he could have been so disaffected by it until now. 

“I just want to thank you for that little lesson you taught us, especially Noct.” Ignis smiled, trying not to feel shy about his sudden gush of admiration. “That was a great thing you showed us.” 

Gladio shrugged, reaching up to the top of the boot. The shape of his chest really was impressive, as well as the curve of his thick waist. Ignis would have felt obscene if he wasnʼt used to seeing his friend more naked than this. “Well, kings arenʼt the only ones that need protecting. These little guys need them, too, and no oneʼs gonna do it for them except us, yʼknow?” He pressed on a button to let the boot seal itself. “So I figured why not protect two birds at once?” He tapped his temple, winking. “Knowledge is power. Weʼre only scared of things we donʼt know. Now that Noct knows more about bumblebees, heʼs safer from them.” 

“Indeed. A most agreeable point,” Ignis replied. “How did you come to know about this?” 

“Uh…” Gladio scratched his head. “Letʼs just say a certain kid had a personal encounter with ‘em in our garden once and couldnʼt come to school and practice for three days ‘cause he looked like a brûlée. I mean the daemons, not the food.” 

Ignis chuckled, nodding in understanding. “I see.” 

“Dad treated it like training and told me to learn all about ‘em, like they were some enemies that beat me.” Gladio shrugged. “Now Iʼm here.” 

“Iʼm glad you are,” Ignis told him, echoing the beatings of his heart. “Well,” he nodded to the car, “letʼs be off, then.” 

Prompto and Noctis were ogling at the pictures they took of their new bumblebee friend when he and Gladio finally got on. Ignis switched out of parking mode and turned the car back to the road. 

“Hey, Gladio,” Noctis said. “How did you learn about bees?” 

“Just something I picked up while I was reading about Lucian wildlife.” Ignis couldnʼt catch his ugly snort. “Hm? Whatʼs up, Ignis?” 

“Nothing,” Ignis lied, fixing his glasses. “Just a sneeze. It must be the pollen.” 

“Huh. Better watch out, then. You never know when theyʼll hit ya.” 

“Indeed,” Ignis admitted with a secret smile. “It seems Iʼve been caught quite unaware.”

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a post on tumblr where someone was feeding a bumblebee from a tiny flower and my mind went, "peak gladio". (i just really love him ok) 
> 
> thanks for reading!! o///


End file.
